California Assembly OKs bill banning warrantless smartphone tracking

23.08.2012
The California State Assembly Wednesday voted to approve legislation that would prohibit state law enforcement personnel from obtaining location data from an individual's GPS-enabled mobile devices without a warrant.

The bill still requires approval by the State Senate and the signature of California Gov. Jerry Brown, who vetoed an earlier, broader version of the legislation last year.

The latest location privacy bill, sponsored by Democratic State Sen. Mark Leno, is one of the first of its kind in the country.

The bill, dubbed SB 1434, seeks to extend a earlier this year requiring that warrants be obtained before law enforcement officials can attach GPS technology to a vehicle to track suspects in a crime, the in a blog post Wednesday.

"Location privacy scored a victory today when the California Assembly overwhelmingly passed [SB 1434]," EFF staff attorney Hanni Fakhoury noted in the blog post.

The EFF and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) are co-sponsors of the California legislation.